When traffic volumes are high, vehicles slow down and speed up frequently and unpredictably, especially on highways. Unfortunately, due in part to driver distractions such as cell phones and the like, it is possible for a driver of a host vehicle to fail to realize a nearby vehicle has been in a crash event. This can lead to an otherwise avoidable pile-up crash event, especially when traffic is dense.
When traffic is less dense, speeds are often increased. If a driver of a host vehicle is less attentive to other vehicles because of reduced traffic or because of one or more distractions, the driver may fail to observe a collision that happened, even if the collision occurred in front of the host vehicle. This can cause the driver of the host vehicle to hit the two or more collided vehicles. At higher speeds, such collisions can cause more severe bodily harm and property damage.
Existing crash sensing systems do not identify the collision status of nearby vehicles; that is, whether a nearby vehicle has been in a crash, and respond accordingly with warnings to a host driver, other drivers, or countermeasures such as automatic application of brakes, tensioning of seat belts, or pre-arming of air bags.
It is therefore desirable to provide systems and methods for identifying the collision status of nearby vehicles. It is also desirable to provide systems and methods for responding to the collision status of a nearby vehicle and for identifying non-drivable paths as well as available and preferred driving paths. It is desirable to provide a warning to a driver of a host vehicle, as well as to drivers of other vehicles and to infrastructure support systems. It is also desirable to automatically apply countermeasures when appropriate, especially if a driver of a host vehicle is distracted or otherwise prevented from doing so.